The water well project launched by the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) in Uganda will benefit 79,000 people, ensuring access to safe water to prevent diseases and other problems.

Continuing to reach out to nations in need, the charity carries out its water well project in regions of Uganda without access to clean water, where the people often have to walk more than half an hour a day to get clean water.

Bülent Köse, son of philanthropist İsmail Köse, who fulfilled his father's wish to set up a water well in Uganda, said, "We understood what kind of a wound we can heal. I have been to many places in the world, but I have never been this happy except for Umrah," referring to the Muslim pilgrimage.

The Turkish Red Crescent provides safe drinking water with the 46 wells it has set up across six countries, namely Chad, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Uganda and Sudan, with a capacity to meet the needs of 251,350 beneficiaries. The charity organization has added two more water wells recently since it started drilling in Uganda in 2020, reaching 15 water wells with a capacity of 79,000 beneficiaries. The charity has started the construction of five more water wells in Uganda and plans to finish them by the end of the year. Bülent Köse, who donated one of the water wells in Uganda, also visited the region to check how the wells were functioning.

Köse explained that he decided to donate to have a well drilled at the request of his father, and after doing a little research, the decision was made to do so with the Turkish Red Crescent. While his father wanted to be there, his age and health stopped him from going on the long trip, so fulfilling his father's wish became his obligation, Köse explains. "When I came to Uganda, I wanted to make my father's dream to 'volunteer' come true," he said.

After the opening of the wells, village residents said they no longer have to travel long distances to retrieve water, adding "our kids won't die from the polluted water anymore, we won't be catching diseases now."

For his part, Köse said that a wound has been healed with the completion of the project, thanking his father for leading him to be part of this noble cause. He also thanked the charity, without whom he would not have been able to do this.

According to the United Nations, 2.2 billion people globally do not have access to clean drinking water and 297,000 children under the age of 5 die from diarrheal diseases every year due to unsafe drinking water.

Based on the strategic goal of social resilience, the Turkish Red Crescent will continue to drill water wells in 2023 to provide clean drinking water. By implementing 30 water well projects in Pakistan, Tanzania, Kenya, Niger, Chad, Uganda and Afghanistan in 2023, the charity will keep working to prevent casualties and provide access to cleaner water for thousands of people in need.

After conducting research studies with the national associations of the relevant nations, the locations where water wells are to be drilled are selected. The locations of water wells that require deep drilling are determined by adhering to certain standards according to the natural characteristics of the countries and designed to be most beneficial to people as a result of the study conducted taking into account the potable value range. A five-year operational and sustainability guarantee is also provided for solar-powered water wells with at least six taps. Additionally, annual periodic controls are used to guarantee the longevity of the recently opened water wells.